Unlocking Business Podcast

In this episode, Kane sits down with Dan Steed, a commercial and mortgage broker operating under Fundd, who spent over a decade in senior roles at Barclays and Lloyds in the UK before moving to Australia and becoming one of Western Australia's top performing bankers at Westpac. In the financial year ending 2026, Dan settled $552 million in new lending.

Dan and Kane get into the real stuff: why you should never go direct to a bank, the difference between residential and commercial lending, how to use your home equity to grow a business, the self-managed super fund rule changes every investor needs to know about, why your books looking too lean can stop you from borrowing, how to get a business loan when you have no hard assets, and why a broker's job is not just to find the cheapest rate but the right one.

They also swap stories about the hidden costs of running a business, payroll tax mistakes, long service leave, and what Dan would tell anyone thinking about investing half a million dollars today.

If you own a business and have never spoken to a broker, this one might change that.

In this episode, Kane sits down with Isabelle Charter, Head of Venture Studios at BetterLabs and CEO of Town Square, who has spent nearly two decades building, scaling and investing in startups across Australia and beyond.

Isabelle previously built and exited Drip, Australia's first investing app for under 18s, and now leads BetterLabs, the strategic innovation arm of RAC, where she builds and funds new companies from concept to scale.

She and Kane get into what it actually takes to turn an idea into a business, why most founders overbuild before validating, how to fail fast and move on, the AI tools changing how startups prototype and test, what a corporate venture studio looks like from the inside, and why saying no to the wrong clients is one of the most important things a growing business can do. They also swap stories about doing too much, losing focus and what brought them both back to their core.

If you are thinking about starting something, or you are already in it and wondering why it feels so hard, this one is worth your time.

In this episode, Kane sits down with Louis, founder of WestOz Trades, one of Perth's leading residential and commercial air conditioning businesses. Kane and Louis have known each other for 17 years, going back to their apprenticeship days, and this one has the easy honesty of two mates who have both been through the wringer building a trades business from scratch.

Louis runs a team of around 22 staff across the office and road, with a reputation built on premium service, nearly 1000 Google reviews, and a loyal property management client base. He and Kane get into the real stuff: how WestOz Trades moved into commercial work, the cert two course debate and what it is doing to the air conditioning industry, CRM and job management software, SOPs and team communication, the Monday morning toolbox talk that keeps the whole team aligned, a detailed walk through of the WestOz Trades sales process including follow up, how to charge a premium rate and actually win the job, Google ads and lead costs, door knocking as an underrated sales tactic, and what they both wish they had known when they started out.

If you run a trades business and want to hear how someone who has been doing it for nine years actually operates day to day, this one is worth your time.

In this episode, Kane sits down with AJ from Team Ecto, his personal trainer of five years, for a wide-ranging conversation about what actually works when it comes to health, fitness and nutrition for busy people.

AJ has been in the industry for 12 years and works primarily with business owners and time-poor people who are trying to improve their health without overhauling their entire life. He and Kane get into the real stuff: why nutrition is harder than training, how fad diets and influencer misinformation are making things worse, the 80/20 rule for sustainable results, sleep, routine, intermittent fasting, caffeine, digestion, managing kids and downtime, and the mindset shift that actually makes healthy habits stick long term.

If you are a busy person trying to figure out where to even start, this one breaks it all down in a way that is actually practical.

In this episode, Kane sits down with Sarah, co-founder of Typeset, a Perth-based content and writing business, for a wide-ranging conversation about what actually works when it comes to marketing, storytelling and content strategy for business owners.

Sarah has a background in software development, enterprise sales and writing, and has spent over two decades helping businesses communicate more clearly and build content that works as a long term asset. She and Kane get into the real stuff: why storytelling matters more than most people realise, how AI has changed the content industry and what businesses should actually be doing with it, the difference between paid ads and organic content, SEO vs content marketing and how to make the two work together, how to find a real expert in a market full of people claiming to be one, and why niching down and saying no to the wrong clients is one of the smartest things a small business can do.

If you are a business owner trying to figure out your marketing without wasting money on things that do not work, this one is full of practical advice from someone who has been in the trenches for a long time.

In this episode, Kane sits down with his brother Fin, Head of Installations at Smartfix, for an honest look back at eight years of building a business together from the ground up.

Fin joined Smartfix as a fourth year apprentice and has worked his way through every corner of the business, from installer to managing a team of over 35 people on the road. He and Kane get into the real stuff: what the early days actually looked like, the challenges of working with family, the period where Smartfix scaled fast to 150 staff and $30 million in revenue before almost losing everything, the systems and communication tools that changed the way the business operates, and what excites them both about where things are heading now.

If you have ever wondered what it really takes to build something big, or what happens when it nearly falls apart, this one does not hold back.

In this episode, Kane sits down with Angelo, owner of Toptech Electrical, for an honest conversation about what the first couple of years of running a solo electrical business actually looks like.

Angelo started Toptech Electrical in June 2024 after working at Smartfix, and has been building his client base from the ground up through Facebook community pages, school maintenance contracts and referrals. He and Kane get into the real stuff: the moment that pushed Angelo to go out on his own, why he hired an apprentice first and what he wishes he had done differently, the challenge of finding that first tradesman, quoting over the phone vs going to site, what did and did not work for lead generation, and why so many tradies undercharge themselves into trouble before they even get started.

If you are a tradie thinking about going out on your own or you are in the early stages of running your own business, this one is full of honest lessons from someone who is in it right now.

In this episode, Kane sits down with Rhys, founder of Oceania Plumbing and Gas, for a straight-talking conversation about what it actually takes to build a trades business from the ground up.

Rhys started his business in 2019, living at home with mum and dad, just as Covid hit. Three months of uncertainty quickly turned into one of the busiest periods he'd ever seen, and from there he scaled to six vehicles and a growing team. He and Kane get into the real stuff: hiring tradies vs apprentices, keeping staff long term, building systems when everything is chaos, customer service, social media, managing vehicles and insurance, and what they both wish someone had told them when they started out.

If you run a trade business or you're thinking about going out on your own, this one is packed with practical lessons from someone who's been in the trenches and figured it out along the way.

Follow Hypotential:

Website: https://www.hypotential.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hypotential_

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HypotentialCo

Follow Kane:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kanetylersmith_/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KaneTylerSmithWA

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kanetylersmith

Connect with Oceania Plumbing and Gas:

Website: https://oceaniaplumbingandgas.com.au/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceaniaplumbingandgas/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceaniaplumbingandgas/

In this episode, Kane sits down with Jevyn from Men's Talk, a men's health promotion charity based in Western Australia, for a raw and eye-opening conversation about the mental health crisis quietly affecting men across Australia.

They cover the alarming suicide statistics (7 men die every day in Australia), the role isolation, divorce and job loss play as warning signs, why tradies are 9 times more likely to die by suicide than from a workplace accident, and how Men's Talk is doing things differently with non-clinical drop-in centres, free mentoring programs and their one-of-a-kind mobile outreach van "Monty the Man Van."

Whether you're a bloke who's been disconnecting without realising it, or someone who wants to know how to check in on a mate, this one's for you.

Mitch Suleau moved from Tasmania to Perth two years ago with a carpenter's ticket and nothing else. He started MBS Building Company anyway and is still figuring it out the right way.

Kane and Mitch get into what the early years of a trade business actually look like. Why you have no idea what you want until you are almost there. Why hiring a tradesman as your first employee beats bringing on an apprentice. How to find work through referrals and social media before spending on advertising. What it takes to build a reputation fast in a city where bad tradespeople can hide. And what Kane would do differently if he was starting Smartfix again from year one.

If you are in the first two to three years of running a trade business and figuring it out as you go, this episode is worth your time.